Can Romney get back on track?

The past few days have been difficult for Mitt Romney. His setbacks include the release of a secret video in which he said 47% of Americans thought of themselves of victims; the news that his campaign is not as cash-stashed as some had anticipated; and the latest poll numbers that show President Barack Obama widening his lead in some swing states, including Ohio.

The smart money is betting on Obama to capture a second term, and it's easy to see why. He leads most major public opinion polls nationally and in the key swing states, and he has many more paths to a majority of 270 in the Electoral College. The probability is that Obama will emerge with a victory.

But we're six weeks out. Theoretically, a lot can happen, some of it driven by the candidates and their campaigns. Could smart decisions, combined with a few favorable circumstances, propel Romney to an upset victory?

For ratings purposes, if nothing else, they want a close, competitive race where the momentum goes back and forth. Otherwise, it will be 40 days and nights in the desert, much like it was in the numbing, dramaless 1996 match-up between President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger, Sen. Bob Dole.

To win against the rising odds, Romney and his team have to exceed expectations in many ways and run the near-perfect campaign that has eluded them so far. That's very hard to achieve, but American electoral history is dotted with astonishing comebacks that defied the predictions of experts. It is not impossible that 2012 could record yet another.